Spiritual Coaching

Spirituality and wellbeing

Spirituality is important for happiness and wellbeing. There is no one size fits all approach for everyone. A spiritual activity for one person may not be seen as a spiritual activity by another. Spiritual activities can vary between spending time appreciating nature, meditating, going within, connecting with God, prayer, cultivating loving-kindness or attending a religious service. But whatever spirituality means for you, nurturing it and expressing it can bring benefits in terms of happiness and wellbeing. 

People with intrinsic faith (reliance on a higher power) have been found to have lower anxiety and depression. Belief in God and personal prayer have been linked to psychological wellbeing.  In terms of how spirituality leads to healthy psychological wellbeing there seem to be many mechanisms at play. Spirituality has been found to be associated with forgiveness, flourishing and resilience.  Frequency of practice is also important. Very simply, people tend to have more spiritual experiences on days when they engage in spiritual practices and this in turn has been found to lead have more feelings of empathy, gratitude and forgiveness.

But spiritual wellbeing is not a static construct and it can vary over time. The spiritual practices themselves may not be complex but the hard part is setting aside the time and intention to engage regularly with them. Often we may not feel like doing any of the activities if our mood is low or we are stressed or anxious. Ironically this is the ideal time to do these activities and it may just need the extra push to get things started. But when we do so the effect of these practices can build

Keeping track of spiritual wellbeing

Although doing a quick check of your spiritual wellbeing may at first seem strange it is an incredibly useful thing to do. How are you feeling? How connected do you feel to a wider spirituality? Has this got better or worse recently? If it got better recently, what were you doing that helped? If it got worse recently, what activities have been pulling you away from your spiritual core?  If you are following a particular religious tradition then you may want to come up with your own questions. However, if you want a more general assessment then the following Spiritual Wellbeing questionnaire proposed by van Dierendonck may be of interest. If you feel the answers to some of these questions is low, then working on spiritual wellbeing could help.

Inner resources

  • I can turn to a spiritual dimension within myself for guidance.
  • I have an inner strength.
  • I have experienced my own strength in times of struggle.
  • I have a sense of harmony or inner peace.
  • My innerness or an inner resource helps me deal with uncertainty in life.
  • I rely on an inner strength in hard times.

Relationship with a higher power

  • I experience a spiritual dimension that gives me strength and love.
  • Frequently meditating or praying gives a sense of inner peace.
  • I get personal strength and support from my God or a Higher Power.
  • I have a personally meaningful relationship with God or a Higher Power.